Seattle officer resigns as part of settlement

Published 10:00 pm, Tuesday, October 24, 2006

A former leader in the Seattle Police Officers' Guild has quit the department as part of a settlement of a federal lawsuit he filed against the city and the department.

Officer Stuart Colman, 47, sued in U.S. District Court, alleging that higher-ranking officers retaliated against him after he made critical comments about the department's role in the deadly 2001 Mardi Gras riots in Pioneer Square.

Testimony in the case began Monday, but testimony scheduled Tuesday was canceled.

"The case has settled," said Dmitri Iglitzin, the Seattle lawyer representing Colman.

The conditions of the settlement agreement did not permit him to say how much money the city paid to end the lawsuit or anything else, Iglitzin said. Sources familiar with the terms said it did not amount to more than a few months' salary.

Ruth Bowman, spokeswoman for the City Attorney's Office, said Colman's resignation was effective Tuesday morning.

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"It was in the best interest of the city that he resign," she said.

Colman was a veteran officer in the department when he became vice president of the Seattle Police Officers' Guild in March 2001. After Mardi Gras that year, Colman was among several officers who were vocal in their criticism of how the department handled the riots. A 20-year-old man, Kristopher Kime, was killed.

Colman's comments were carried in local and national media. The 21-year veteran said his career suffered afterward, with the department denying him training opportunities and transferring him out of the bicycle squad where he was working.

Lawyers for the city countered in court papers that Colman was an underachieving police officer with a habit of avoiding work. The city attorneys argued that other officers have likewise publicly criticized both the department and commanders without suffering any damage to their careers.

Colman joined the department in 1985 and became a vice president of the guild in 2001. He resigned the next year after losing his bid to become guild president.